Tough finish to Jake Peavy’s start

Credit: AP

DESERVING A BETTER FATE: Jake Peavy allowed only five hits in six-plus innings, but still suffered his second defeat in three starts since joining the Red Sox.

TORONTO — For six innings last night, Jake Peavy looked like the guy the Red Sox hoped they were getting when they brought him over from Chicago at the trade deadline.

He had stifled the Toronto Blue Jays on a measly two hits, struck out four and didn’t walk a batter as he was easily the better hurler in a matchup with former White Sox teammate Mark Buehrle.

Then, seemingly in an instant, it all fell apart as the Jays struck for three straight hits in the seventh that eventually gave them a 2-1 lead, sent Peavy to the showers and to his fifth loss of the season.

It was a tough way to end a promising night.

“I thought Jake threw the ball well,” said manager John Farrell. “Certainly he deserved a better fate the way this one turned out.”

While Peavy was encouraged with his performance through six innings, especially coming off a rocky outing against Kansas City, he took full blame for the loss.

“A rubber game when you want to come out on top, I wasn’t good enough,” he said.

“The seventh inning just got away from us in a hurry.”

Particularly grating was a hit he surrendered to Toronto’s Brett Lawrie after Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion had touched him for singles. Lawrie’s single to center field scored Bautista with the tying run and set the stage for pinch-hitter Mark DeRosa’s sacrifice fly off reliever Craig Breslow to score the winner.

“I’m OK with the first two guys, but I’ve got to make a better pitch to Lawrie,” he said. “ I gotta execute better with him. I know he’s been hot, but I take full responsibility. It was the wrong pitch to throw at him and it was badly executed.

“I’ll learn from it and get better.”

Peavy said the fact his teammates left 12 men on base and were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position played no role in the way he pitched.

“At the end of the day, we had a lead and I’ve got to do all I can do to hold a lead,” he said. “I’ve got to make that one run stand up.”

The most encouraging sign for Sox fans is that despite throwing 99 pitches, 68 of them for strikes, Peavy said he didn’t feel tired.

“I felt a lot better than I did in Kansas City,” he said.

Considering he’s been back pitching for only three weeks after six weeks on the disabled list with a broken rib, last night’s outing indicates that he’s getting closer to full strength.